The Gathering Surf City

We are beginning.

We have finished the messages we were
doing on gathering priorities last

week with our walking together.

And so this week,

next week,

we'll be dealing with the approaching
celebration of Thanksgiving.

All right,

who's made plans,

raise your hand.

All right,

what kind of plans?

Is it family get together plans?

Is it turkey plans?

Football? No.

Anyway, all right,

I want to share these
verses with you.

Just two verses this morning,

really, and we've covered them,

but we didn't cover them in a
way to take a look at this.

This comes from Hebrews,

chapter 12,

verses 28 and 29.

Pretty short little passage.

Here we go.

Therefore, since we are receiving
a kingdom that cannot be shaken,

let us be thankful by it.

We may serve God acceptably
with reverence and awe.

For our God is a consuming fire.

Alrighty, let's bow in prayer.

Father, we do thank you again this morning
that we get to gather and hang

out together and worship.

And God,

I thank you for the opportunity
we have to sing,

God, that you give us an opportunity
with the angels to sing praises and

to proclaim your glory and majesty.

And so God,

I thank you for those who
lead us in worship.

I thank you,

God for your word.

God, just two little verses this morning
that have a great deal of weight

and purpose for us as we consider
these next two weeks and the

opportunities that we
have to be thankful.

God, we thank you for all those that
have shown their love for people

around the world that we don't even know
through the Operation Christmas

Child and these hundreds of boxes that
we've collected and that will be

dropped off tomorrow at the next level
and next stage of their process to

going around the world.

And I just pray,

God that as these boxes
go to some child,

some family,

some community,

God, that their hearts would be prepared
to hear the gospel and to hear

of your love.

God, thank you for allowing
us to participate.

We pray God that your kingdom is proclaimed
all over the world in these

next few months.

God, thank you again for today.

Today is a blessing.

And God,

your mercies are new every morning.

And so God,

we thank you this morning for mercy
and we pray it in Jesus name.

Amen. Alrighty,

so two things in the
announcement video.

I really have to move this
for a knock it somewhere.

All right.

In the announcement video you heard
about the annual family gathering.

And so on December 4th we're going
to be meeting for a meal at 6:00,

coming over here to do some
appreciation things.

But also there are two pieces of business
that we always deal with in our

annual family gathering.

One is the selection and affirmation
of leadership as well as our

proposed budget for the new year.

There are copies of this little document
up front here if you're

interested in that sort of thing.

Just making you aware that the meeting's
coming and if you want to be a

part of it,

come hang out with us.

If not.

Okay. Alrighty.

So I took a little journey this week
because in dealing with Hebrews,

chapter 12,

we just finished the book of Hebrews
and yet we can't get out of it,

because the truth is,

in spending nine and a half months or
nine months in the book of Hebrews,

it really focused for me the fact that
Hebrews kind of summarizes what

God has done.

It takes us back to creation and brings
us all the way up to who we are

in Christ and what God has done on our
behalf through the shed blood of

Jesus Christ.

And so verse 28 is kind of a summary
statement that God's making here.

He says,

therefore, right?

And therefore follows the case being made
throughout the book of Hebrews.

He says,

therefore, since we are receiving
a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

And that idea is that.

I'm way loud again,

Chris. Sorry,

I'm echoing in my head.

We need a.

All right,

sorry.

All right.

So since we are receiving a kingdom.

So the book of Hebrews,

through all the first 12 chapters,

points out what God has begun and done
and accomplished and gets all the

way up to the point where we get to this
statement saying that what God

is providing for us is substantial.

What God is giving us is this
place of inclusion,

this place of adoption,

that we are being given a kingdom,

God's kingdom,

the kingdom of God,

the kingdom of heaven.

All the different references we
see in the New Testament,

God is saying right
here in this one,

these few little words,

since we are receiving this kingdom
that can't be shaken,

the foundations of which are not
going to get tossed or turned.

And in these four little words,

let us be thankful.

Now, I was looking at this,

and this is the Christian
Standard Bible version.

And so I thought,

well, let's see what this says.

All right.

So I went back to a translations that
are a little older than the CSV and

it says,

let us show gratitude.

That's the translation from like the
ESV or the NAS in the 90s and that

sort of thing.

I thought,

all right,

gratitude. I've preached Thanksgiving
messages with the word gratitude in

it, right?

And I thought,

all right,

let us show gratitude.

And then I went all the way back.

Get ready.

Some of you are going to love it.

Ready? I went back to King James,

right? And it says,

let us have grace.

So I started looking.

I thought,

all right,

so how is it that we can make this progression
from let us have grace to

let us show gratitude to
let's be thankful now,

let's be thankful.

That's the way you and
I are going to talk,

right? That's our common
vernacular in 2024.

Let's just be thankful,

right?

Be thankful.

Well, because,

I mean,

I don't know anybody around our dinner
table that's going to go,

all right,

let's stop and show gratitude,

right? We're not going to do that,

you know?

And I don't know anybody's
going to go,

oh, well,

let's have some grace.

But they might,

because what they mean by saying,

let's have some grace is somebody
pray so we can eat,

right?

Let's say grace.

Let's write.

So I started looking and seeing.

I thought,

all right,

gratitude. Gratitude.

What is that?

All right,

so gratitude is this word
that comes from Latin,

gratis, which means pleasing
or thankful.

So let's be thankful is not
a bad translation of this.

So let's show gratitude,

let's be thankful,

let's have grace.

And then it follows with
this next little by it.

By what?

By receiving a kingdom
or by being grateful,

thankful and having gratitude by it,

we may serve God acceptably.

Now, I want what I offer to
God to be acceptable,

right? I don't want to fall into the
whole Cain thing where my offering

that I bring is not accepted.

I want to serve God acceptably.

What does it look like to
serve God acceptably?

That's kind of the thing.

And so I started looking
at gratitude.

Everybody knows what gratitude
rhymes with,

right? What's gratitude
rhyme with attitude?

All right,

so if I were going to
ask the question,

what's your attitude?

How would you answer that?

Go ahead,

think of a word.

Okay, now don't give
me church answers,

because I know we just talked
about thankful ingratitude,

but what's your attitude?

Right?

Anybody want to shout one out?

Positive. Positive attitude.

I've got a positive attitude.

Thank you very much.

Tommy, what else?

Thankful. Okay.

Yes. That one falls right
into the passage.

What else?

Say what?

Conditional. Conditional.

Yes.

Our attitude can be influenced by
the circumstances around us,

right? Anybody willing to just say,

admit, say,

I've got a bad attitude.

Okay, so some people are like,

yes, that's me.

What did you say,

Tim? Impatient attitude.

So I kind of put the message together
around the idea of a gratitude

attitude. What does it Mean to have
an attitude of gratitude.

How can we live that?

Because if I'm reading this
right in the right order,

then being,

showing gratitude,

having grace,

being thankful is a means by which
we may serve God acceptably with

reverence and awe.

So what's it asking us to recognize
and notice is that God has given.

We are receiving a kingdom
as his children,

as his people,

being adopted into the
family of God,

being a part of the body of Christ,

being blessed with an eternity and a salvation
and a promise of all God's

hope. What should our attitude be?

Gratitude. So as you know,

all right,

so I grew up,

I mean,

I was born in 62,

so I grew up through
the 60s and 70s.

And I remember in the 60s
hearing this phrase.

Well, it was a name for a
group of individuals.

They were the Rat Pack.

Anybody know that name?

Anybody want to shout out who it was?

Sinatra, Dean Martin,

Sammy Davis Jr.

Peter Lawford.

All right,

so they were the Rat Pack.

I thought,

you know,

I'm not sure I would.

I don't know that I'd be proud
that you called me a Rat Pack.

Right. So I started looking at it
and there was a reason for it.

Because they got together and they were
a fellowship group in the Holmby

Hills and they were not,

as always,

they were known for certain
activities,

we'll put it that way.

Alright, they did it.

To which a friend of mine said,

is the anthem of hell.

But anyway,

but the point being is that they became
known for their actions and

activities, right,

the Rat Pack.

And then in the 70s and 80s,

we became aware of a group
called the Brat Pack.

And I thought,

oh yeah,

right. Because I remember
as a kid in some of my,

let's say,

more selfish attitudes that I had
been referred to as a brat.

And I remember being deeply offended
by being called a brat.

And I wanted to say,

well, what is it that caused
me to be called a brat?

Oh, you're a brat.

And then we learned a more positive
way of doing that.

You're not a brat,

you're just acting bratty.

Still, it's all about the activities
and the actions that lead to that

moniker or that name being called,

right?

And so Eli,

now this is my son.

So Eli and I were sitting there
last night talking.

I said,

all right.

I said,

I'm talking about gratitude,

attitude tomorrow as opposed
to bratitude.

So we made up a new word last night.

Bratitude. What is a brat?

Brat, according to dictionary.

Now, child who behaves badly,

annoying, spoiled,

ill mannered,

further definition,

confidently rebellious,

unapologetically Bold and
playfully defiant.

And then there was a sentence
down there that said,

expects to get everything they want.

Can I just remove one
word from all that?

The word child.

Because we live in a culture where I
see this not simply in children,

but throughout the spectrum of age.

Right? And I think that this cultural
thing just screams in the face of

what God has said to us in Hebrews,

chapter 12,

verses 28 and 29.

Because God has given you so much.

Our response is to show gratitude
and grace and Thanksgiving,

you see?

So, you know,

I'm looking more into this gratitude
thing because I like the word.

Now I'm going to start to
popularize it for y'all.

How do you avoid gratitude by
managing a child's bad.

Well, I'm going to take child out by
managing a person's bad behavior

through consistent discipline,

positive reinforcement,

clear expectations,

and open communication.

And this was actually in the explanation
rather than medical treatment.

And then it says,

address the underlying causes.

Teach appropriate skills.

Folks, we have a cultural endeavor
we need to engage in.

What does it mean to show gratitude,

grace, and Thanksgiving?

What does that look like for us?

You see?

So I continued my study.

I'm learning in this,

y'all. So the point of today's
message is simply this.

And I came up with this
months and months ago.

Thanks is giving.

Okay, thanks.

We celebrate Thanksgiving.

Yes. Family gathering,

turkey, football games,

nap.

Right. I do all the other stuff
so I can enjoy the last one,

the nap.

Right. You work your way.

And Thanksgiving,

we look forward to Thanksgiving.

It's a holiday.

It's a great time for us to enjoy these
good things and to receive the

good things,

whether it's family and meals
and all that kind of stuff.

And we want to express a gratitude
for all those things.

And so thanks,

though Thanksgiving.

But thanks is giving.

So if I want to show gratitude,

if I want to be thankful,

then what the Bible is teaching us
is that it's how we serve God is

through our gratitude.

You see?

So then the question would be.

I don't think there's a.

Oh, well,

Pam's here.

I was looking around
for staff members.

There's not many.

So, you know,

this little gathering right here
is often called a service.

Y'all know I'm going to church service
or I'm going to worship service.

And when people call it a service,

I go,

oh, really?

What'd you do?

Right? How did you serve
this morning?

Right? By getting up,

getting dressed,

and having a seat.

Yay. Good work.

Right?

No, here's the point.

Serving is us giving of
ourselves Our time,

our energy,

our resources.

Anything that we can in some way deprive
ourselves of to give to someone

else. Thanks is giving,

you see.

And so I began to ask myself,

what is this posture that we need
to adopt and assume of gratitude?

How can I.

How can I be ready to show
gratitude all the time,

not just on Thursday in November?

How can I have a posture of gratitude
to get ready to whatever happens?

All right,

you know,

somebody cuts me off in traffic.

Thank you.

I'm not there.

I'm promising you that.

I struggle with that
one quite a bit.

But you see,

my point.

My point is that we
are to be grateful.

Gratitude, thankful,

gracious all the time.

It's a posture that we adopt,

right? Not because the people we're showing
gratitude necessarily deserve

it, but in showing gratitude,

we serve God,

you see,

because we're blessed.

So I found a study y'all ready for this
one came from UNC Chapel Hill.

So, yeah,

I knew y'all would like it comes out
of the psychology department,

which makes me kind of go,

eh, eh.

But it was how to practice
gratitude.

Notice, think,

feel, and do.

And I thought,

okay, what do you mean?

So this is it.

Here it is.

All right.

So they wrote a whole paper
to get to this.

Notice what you have in your life
or has come into your life,

no matter how small,

think about why you have
received this gift,

who played a role in
making it possible,

and why they did so.

Feel the positive emotions that come
with receiving from others and

connecting them to the real gift,

the kindness,

generosity, or love that someone
else has shown you.

Then do something to express
your appreciation.

I thought,

apart from it coming
from Chapel Hill,

we should do this toward God because
he's done so much for us.

You see,

in the article,

it actually says,

you know,

the little kid who says,

well, she said thanks,

but she didn't mean it,

right? I remember several years ago,

at Thanksgiving,

right here in the gathering,

I preached that thing about,

you know,

we sort of trivialized thank you,

right? We've reduced it to thanks.

And then at some point,

we reduced it to,

you know,

American Greetings card,

thank you.

How can we actually show gratitude
to someone who has given to us,

Right? How can we adopt a
posture of gratitude?

Because people do things for us.

Some people do bad things to us.

And yet I think our posture with regard
to who we are in Christ still

needs to be a posture of gratitude.

Because we have been given much,

even if it's not that person
that's given us much.

God has given us much.

And as we It's Sunday
today and Thursday,

a week and a half from now,

is Thanksgiving.

How will we adopt a posture of gratitude
for all that God has done on our

behalf? What will you do?

Will you find a way to give?

Will you find a way to serve?

Will you find a way to help?

Will you find a way to sacrifice and
surrender of who you are just to do

for somebody else?

Because what the Bible is teaching us
is that in doing for somebody else,

we're doing for God.

Right? I mean,

it actually says,

you know,

how can you say you
love your brother?

I mean,

how can you say you love God if you
don't have love for your brother?

You see?

So I'm looking at this whole thing,

and this has been a real.

I've enjoyed this.

You see,

all my scribble notes.

I've kind of enjoyed this
little journey.

And I was like,

I love that we came up with
the word gratitude.

Anybody ever heard that before?

Okay. Have you heard Bratitude?

Really? You said it.

Okay, well,

see, that's kind of the idea.

I was just like,

you know what?

We live in a culture and society,

and this was the thing.

One of the definitions.

Well, one of the descriptors of the
word of the group Rat Pack was Rat

Pack was the embodiment
of a lifestyle.

Therefore, I think Brat Pack can also
be called the embodiment of a

lifestyle.

So maybe we should be the Grat Pack.

Okay? I mean,

the idea that gratitude becomes the embodiment
of a lifestyle because we

are blessed by God.

See, that's what Hebrews
brought us down to.

I love studying the Book of Hebrews because
it took us from creation down

to the point that Jesus,

the son of God,

the one who gave his own
life in our place,

so that not only could
we have eternity,

which has been characterized
as pie in the sky,

in the sweet by and by,

but we can have abundant
life right now.

And it's not a measure of the things
we have or the friends we have or

the status we acquire or the fame that
we garner or any of that stuff.

We are so blessed.

Even when bad things happen,

folks, we are blessed.

And so ours is to be an
attitude of gratitude,

all right?

That we just are grateful people.

And so when I looked back down
through there and I thought,

let us have grace.

Well, we know grace as a term,

and we have received God's grace,

right? Then gratitude would
be showing grace.

Right? And the question I have to ask
goes back to when I ask about

everything. What does it look
like for us to show grace?

And Gratitude and thanksgiving.

And what will we do this week,

next week and every week to follow,

to adopt a posture of gratitude.

Because, you know,

gratitude is.

Remember, you've heard me say it.

I want what I want when I want it.

That's gratitude.

Gratitude. See,

that's what we need to
be the grat pack.

Okay? So how can you
be part of that?

We have to know Jesus.

See, that's where this
is all taught.

We are receiving a kingdom
that cannot be shaken.

By being grateful and having
a posture of gratitude,

we may serve God acceptably
with reverence and awe,

recognizing that he has done
everything for us.

And then it says,

for our God is a consuming fire.

Can I just ponder a question?

Do you think there's a.

Do you think there's
a threat in that?

Is there a judgment to come?

You see,

I think there's two things there.

I know the consuming fire thing
feels like we might get burnt,

but I also think that when the spirit
of God is described throughout

scripture as fire and light,

that it's his spirit
that envelops us.

And God is a consuming fire.

See, I want to go out from this place
and let people see gratitude

attitude. All right,

if you don't know Jesus,

you need to start right there.

Okay? You need to know Jesus.

We'd love to introduce you to him.

We get to sing one more song before
we finish up this particular

gathering hour.

But I don't know if you enjoyed
my journey into gratitude,

but I don't want to be that.

I want to be other than that.

Okay, Pray with me.

Father, thank you for today.

Thank you,

God, for loving us and for giving this
kingdom that cannot be shaken.

God, thank you for giving
salvation and redemption.

Jesus, for dying on the cross,

for dying in my place.

God, let my posture,

my inclination in all things
be grace and gratitude.

God, if there's even one here this morning
that's never trusted Jesus and

never received salvation.

God, it's our prayer this morning that
they would be confronted in that.

That they might trust you,

God, and they might receive salvation
and receive Christ.

God, I thank you that as we
lead up to Thanksgiving,

we want to be thankful.

We want to show thanks.

We want to give of ourselves
in thanksgiving.

Help us to see the ways to do it,

and we pray it in Jesus name.

Amen.